Human rights are said to be the rights we enjoy simply by virtue of our humanity.
Some 66 years ago, when the nations of the world resolved to proclaim the content of these rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, it was hardly surprising, in light of the horrific persecutions of the preceding decades, that protection from discrimination and from incitement to discrimination featured prominently on that list.
But proclaiming rights is not the same as enforcing rights. At about the same time as Canada was participating in the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal saw fit to uphold the conviction of Viola Desmond for insisting on sitting in the whites-only section of a movie theatre rather than in the blacks-only balcony. At least through the 1950s, and...
Mark J. Freiman practises law at Lerners LLP in Toronto. He is a former deputy attorney general for Ontario. In his private practice he has appeared on a wide variety of human rights matters, including acting on behalf of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
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